'Holiday'

Hey folks, how are y'all today?

I've been thinking about the fact that I've blogged for nearly every day last month and, as I've said in other posts, I got plenty of views and some comments. That was very nice and all, but there has been a bit of a downside. I know some people have been a little bit fed up of the updates I've been posting which has made me think about cooling it down a bit.

There are some people who have done really well publishing every day. Calum Kerr did a great job on Flash365 (I believe his wife is currently doing a flash fiction piece a day). Incidentally a book containing a selection of some of them is available. I admire the patience, persistence and skill that he has and may try to do something like it in the future (hopefully without annoying people with my updates!). For now, however, I feel like I've done a lot of good (improving writing fitness, increasing confidence, encouraging a wee bit of discussion etc) and am going to tone it down now.

I'm not stopping blogging, or anything, I just want to compare and contrast a blog-heavy month with a blog-lite month. I have a workshop session coming up later in the month, so I want to get cracking on a piece for that. Will not spending as much time on here make me uber-productive elsewhere? I don't know, but let's see...

Speaking about writing though, I recently submitted a wee piece for a competition to win a copy of Threshold by David Hartley. It felt good doing a hundred-word piece, there was a sense of freedom to have fun. On the reading side of things, I really rather like Le Cafe Du Jour. N starts all the posts I've read with an artistic quote. It makes for great reading because it gets your mind going on themes and contexts before the body of the post. I think it's a great way of writing, especially since some people have made novels out of much of that material, right David Markson? It's all so thoughtful, so aware and well-written. I'd check it out if I were you, but since I'm me, I can be happy that I already have.

Oookay, so bit of a longer post than I'd normally like, well done if you made it to the end. So long! Peace out.

Hi There

Please, dear people, I have a favour to ask of you. There is this blog I like and it'd be really good if you checked it out. It's written and performed by Chris Killen who's an ex Edge Hill student, which is how I found out about him and his book The Bird Room (also worth a look actually). Anyway, this latest blog of his is called hi there.

I'm not just linking you to it because he gave me a 'shout out' (though it is admittedly nice to repay the gesture), I'm bringing it to your attention because I like what he's doing. I hope you do too. I believe blogs are about embracing as much multimedia as humanly manageable (without replacing quality of content), and using videos is an effective way to do this. I've used pictures and links before, but audio clips and videos should feature too, and watching Chris' vids has been really useful.

So check it out, get involved, comment, follow etc. Thanks.

P.S. Please don't mention the irony of me saying how good it is to embrace multimedia in a post, then producing one that's so bland...

Do I Want Fries With That?

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Did You Know?

My blog layout (the colourful circle arrangementy type thingy-ma-bob) is a lot like my bed covers at home?

And, while writing that, I've noticed it's similar to my bed covers at uni too? OMG that's blogtastic right?

Pictured are the bedclothes, home first then uni. Es muy fascinante!

To You

I tell you what, Im overwhelmed by 'Dolly Peg and the Untruths'. By the way, if you're an idiot, that's one of the blogs I'm following at the mo and, for my money, one of the best. The voice is so down to earth, so informed and - as I know from personal experience - the author is so lovely, it's such a great thing. I was recently pretty unwell and I got a comment from the lass in question wishing me well. Wise beyond her years and a lovely person too, check out 'Dolly Peg and the Untruths' at http://dollypegandtheuntruths.blogspot.com/
Erm, aside from reading better blogs, I've been going to lectures and using earplugs TO STOP EVERYONE'S NOISE FROM STOPPING ME SLEEPING!!! Yeah I'm an angry mofo atm, hope that doesnt't rub off on you guys. Seriously, all I got to tell ya is that I been drinking tonight, alternating Carlsberg (Liverpool F.C.'s sponsor...) with Jagermeister (which I've recently been told has herbal remedy properties).
Well I'm getting 'too far gone' atm, so erm love life and check out decent blogs lol... I'm off for some rum cocktails etc...
Btw, my last pic of tea was taken without me stirring the mixture, i.e. I let the milk diffuse naturally, so that may be why it looks so sexy! Today I got a picture of (and I'm making this up as I type)... a box of tissues... I don't know what I'm doing anymore... I'm taking it coz it's on the desk in front of me... Ciao!